Burst Pipe Floods Ohio Senate Chamber During Deep Freeze

A pipe burst early Tuesday inside the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, sending water into the back of the historic Senate Chambers after a stretch of extremely cold weather across the state.

The chamber is a place of some significance. Abraham Lincoln once spoke there to lawmakers. The building is commonly known as "The People's House."

Republican Senator Jay Hottinger, who is leaving the chamber after more than two decades in office, posted video of the flooding on Twitter. His caption read: "My last day at the Statehouse not going very well."

The flooding followed several days of brutal cold. At 6 a.m. on Friday, the temperature in Columbus stood at -8 degrees, and the city warmed only slightly over the weekend.

Laura Battocletti, executive director of the Capital Square Review and Advisory Board, which oversees the Statehouse, said the ruptured pipe belongs to the building's fire suppression system, which runs above the ceiling in the Senate. She said costly technical equipment in the chamber did not suffer significant damage. "The biggest concern is going to be the carpet and being able to dry out the carpet," Battocletti said.

John Fortney, director of communications for the Ohio Senate, praised Statehouse employees who acted quickly to head off worse damage. He also noted the timing could have been far worse. "It's really fortunate that somebody was here and it didn't happen on Christmas Day because it's right between the second and third floors," Fortney said.

In the coming days, work crews will examine the extent of the damage to the ceiling around the Senate, the Senate Majority Caucus room, the Ohio press room and the area outside Governor DeWine's ceremonial office. Fortney expects much of the problem to involve carpet that water extraction methods cannot save.

Even so, he said the Senate will be ready to do its work on schedule. "We will be ready for the opening day January 3 for the 135th General Assembly," Fortney said.

This is not the first time Battocletti has had to deal with damage at the building. She oversaw repairs after the 2020 protests in Columbus, when windows were broken and parts of the Statehouse were defaced. She has also handled other minor flooding incidents there in recent years. "Water is not our friend here at the Statehouse," she said.